Flush tank water control



arch 11, 1958 G. E. TUCKER 2,82

FLUSH TANK WATER CONTROL Original Filed June 15, 1955 United StatesPatent 6 FLUSH TANK WATER CONTROL Glenn E. Tucker, Carterville, Mo.

Substituted for abandoned application Serial No. 515,677, June 15, 1955.This application July 16, 1956, Serial No. 598,035

1, Claim. (Cl. 4-67) The present invention relates to water savingdevices, and more particularly to a means for controlling the amount ofwater. dispensed from a conventional flush tank.

This application is a substitute of an abandoned application filed by mein the United States. Patent Oflice on June 15, 1955, under Ser. No.515,677, Division 58, for Flush Tank Water Control, and abandoned May22, 1956.

Conventional flush tanks are normally equipped with a ball floatfor'opening and closing the drain outlet and which, is,manually trippedor raised from the exterior of the tank by suitable linkage. When thefloat is lifted to its raised position, its buoyancy maintains it nearthe level of the water until almost all of the water has been dischargeddown the drain pipe at which time the float reseats to allow the tank torefill. Thus, when a conventional tank has been tripped, almost all ofthe water contained therein is discharged before the float reseats.

In a majority of the times the flush tank is tripped for flushing thecontents of the stool into the sewer line, only approximately one-halfof the water contained within the tank is needed to adequately performthe work.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide acontrol device which will allow only a portion of the water to bedrained from a flush tank.

An equally important object of this invention is to provide a controldevice of this class which will permit the dispensing of substantiallyall the water contained within the flush tank when it is desired to doso.

Another object is to provide a device of this class which is simple inoperation and consists of relatively few parts, and may therefore bemanufactured at a relatively low cost.

A further object of this invention is to provide a water control deviceof this class which may be easily and quickly installed by a home ownerwithout the use of special tools or equipment.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a device of thisclass which may be used over a long period of time without showing anyappreciable amount of wear.

The present invention accomplishes these and other objects by providinga hollow cylindrical buoyant body of a selected diameter and lengthoperated by the normal flushing of a conventional flush tank. The bodyhas an inner and an outer wall integrally sealed at each respective endof the body to form an air-tight space therebetween. The body furtherhas a longitudinally extending slot formed through its walls and isvertically disposed around the ball float lift rod within a conventionalflush tank with a horizontal guide arm of the tank extending through theslot. The lower end of the body is partially closed by a plate memberhaving a central perforation for slidably receiving the guide rodtherein. The buoyancy of the body maintains it in spaced-apart relationabove the conventional ball float, closing the flush tank drain outletuntil such time as the ball is unseated. The body then follows the waterlevel downward forcing the ball float to close the drain outlet by thecontact of the plate member with the upper portion of the ball floatbefore the same would normally close the drain outlet.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying single sheet of drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a fragmentary elevational view of the interior of a waterfilled conventional flush tank with the device of the presentinventioninstalled therein;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating the relative positionof the instant invention when the water level within the tank has beenlowered; and,

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the device, per se, and illustratingits connection withan auxiliary guide rod.

Like charcters of reference designate like parts in those figures of thedrawingsin which they occur.

In the drawings:

Referring to Fig. l, the reference numeral 5 indicates, as a whole, thedevice which is a tubate, or hollow cylindrical body in generalconfiguration and of a selected diameter and length. The device hasanouter wall 6 and an inner wall 8 in parallel spaced-apartrelationintegrally joined at the upper end 10 and the lower end 12'.forming an air-tight space 14 therebetween which renders the device 5highly buoyant. The upper end 10 and the lower end 12; are arcuatelyformed to prevent the device from lodging against the working partswithin the confines of a conventional flush tank. A longitudinallyextending opening or slot of a selected width is formed through thewalls 6 and 8 of the device, as at 116, for the purposes which will bepresently apparent. A comparatively thin plate member 18, diametricallysubstantially equal with relation to the wall 6, is rigidly connected tothe lower end 12. The plate 18 has a central perforation 19 of aselected size.

A pair of superposed guide bars 20 and 21 having vertically alignedcentral perforations are rigidly connected in spaced-apart horizontallyparallel relation to the walls of the device across the upper end of theslot .16.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1, the numeral 26 indicatesgenerally the floor of a conventional flush tank through which isconnected a water outlet 27 and an overflow pipe 28. A ball float 29 israised from and guided back into the seat of the water outlet 27 by aguide rod 30 slidably supported by an arm 31 rigidly connected to andextending horizontally from the overflow pipe 28. Suitable linkage 32 isconnected to the guide rod 30 to lift or trip the ball float 29 in aconventional manner, as shown in dotted lines. The above structure,referred to by the numerals 26 to 32 inclusive, is conventional withflush tanks and forms no part of the instant invention other than themanner in which the device 5 acts to control the same, as disclosedhereinbelow.

Operation The device 5 is installed around the guide rod 30 by removingthe same and inserting the arm 31 into the slot 16 above the plate 18and below the lowermost guide bar 26). The guide rod 30 is then replacedthrough the end of the arm 31 and through the plate perforation 19 andreconnected with the ball float 29. As the water fills the flush tank tothe full level, as indicated by the numeral 4-9, the buoyant device 5rises and remains floated as is illustrated in Fig. l. The flush tankdrain mechanism may then be manually tripped by the linkage 32 whichraises the ball float 29 to contact the plate 18. Normally the ballfloat 29 would remain near the top of the water until substantially allof the same had drained out through the outlet 27 before reseating.However,

the device 5 is lowered by the draining of the water and as it lowersthe ball 29 is forced into seated position within the outlet 27 (Fig. 2)for closing the same when a selected amount of the water has beendrained off, or has reached the level indicated by the numeral Thus, itseems obvious that the selected or desired amount of water may bereleased from the tank by regulating the water level Within the tank ina conventional manner and by the use of the device 5 which acts to closethe outlet drain 27 when the water level is loweredv Vertical movementof the device is guided by the arm 31 within the slot 16.

When it is desired to drain substantially all of the water from theflush tank, the trip knob or handle of the flush tank, not shown, may bemanually held until the water has been discharged out through the drainoutlet 27. Thus it may be seen that a device has been provided whichwill normally save substantially one-half the amount of water usuallyflushed down the drain.

On some flush tanks it may be desirable to provide an auxiliary guiderod 22 having a clamp 24 rigidly connected to its upper end. The clamp24 surrounds and is rigidly carried by the overflow pipe 28. The rod 22is slidably engaged With the perforations of the guide bars 20 and 21 tomaintain the device 5 in alignment with the ball float 29.

Obviously the invention is susceptible to some change or alterationwithout defeating its practicability, and I therefore do not wish to beconfined to the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings and describedherein,

further than I am limited by the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A water control device for a water filled flush tank having an outletopening opened and closed by a ball float and having a horizontal armcarried by an overflow pipe mounted therein for guiding slidably a liftrod connected to said ball float, including: a hollow cylindricalbuoyant body vertically disposed around said rod, said body normallymaintained in spaced superposed relation with said float when said tankis full, said body having a longitudinally extending side opening forreceiving said arm therein; a pair of vertically alignedly perforatedguide bars spanning said opening in spaced superposed ion adjacent theupper end of said body; a vertically osed guide member rigidly carriedby said overflow pipe, said member loosely received by said alignedpertorations of said guide bars for vertical movement of said bodyrelative to said guide member; and a centrally perforated member carriedby the lower end of said body and slidable vertically around said liftrod, whereby, when said tank is tripped for flushing, said body followsthe water level downward until said perforated member forces said floatto close said outlet opening after discharging a selected portion of thewater in said tank.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,775,772 Clarke Jan. 1, 1957

